17 picked Nipah virus from 1st victim: Kerala govt report

One patient was infected by another man at the Perambra hospital, they said

It is suspected that Sabith, an electrician, had contracted the virus from fruit bats, however, it is not clear the circumstances under which he got infected. Sabith had returned from the gulf eight months before he died

Sabith first took treatment as an 'outpatient' at the Perambra hospital for high fever and body pain on May 2

On May 3, he was admitted at the hospital, and it is suspected that four people on night duty including sister Lini Puthussery, who attended to him, picked the virus from him

As his condition worsened on May 4, Sabith was shifted to the Medical College hospital for a CT scan, where he died on May 5. Ten people got infected at the medical college on the single day he was there, the sources said

Though Sabith's blood samples were not tested for Nipah, as per records, it has been concluded that he had contracted Nipah virus, the sources said

His younger brother was admitted to the hospital with similar symptoms and tests revealed that he was Nipah positive. He died shortly after, followed by their 60-year-old father and a paternal aunt who had come to help them

It was suspected that the brothers might have contracted the virus when they got into a bat-infested well in their newly bought property. However, the bats in the well were found to be insect-eating ones, the sources said

As a precautionary measure, a contact list of nearly 3,000 people with whom the infected persons had been in touch was prepared and they were put under quarantine. Nipah test was also conducted on them, the sources said

The exhaustive report on the Nipah outbreak has been sent to the central surveillance department, the sources said

Since the outbreak had national implications, the state surveillance unit has sought permission to officially close the outbreak as the 42-day double incubation period of the virus is over

Two of the infected patients made a miraculous recovery bringing cheer to the doctors and nurses who treated them
Fever, altered mental status, severe weakness, headache, respiratory distress, cough, vomiting, muscle pain, convulsion, diarrhoea are the symptoms of the virus, which also causes severe illness characterised by inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) or respiratory diseases

The government had declared Kozhikode and Malappuram districts as free of Nipah on June 30 after no new cases were reported since May 31.

Read Also: Govt declares Kozhikode, Malappuram districts as Nipah virus free